The present invention resides in a method to reduce and prevent inflammation and to treat inflammation related autoimmune disorders. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of inhibiting the expression of chronic inflammation in an animal or human by conductively coupling the body with the earth to conduct earth's mobile surface charge of free electrons from the earth to the body in order to restore the body's natural supply of free electrons and thereby reduce and prevent residual immune system-produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) free radicals from oxidizing normal tissue. When an animal or human body is naturally charged with earth's mobile free electrons, residual immune system-produced free radicals have a readily available source of free electrons to rapidly reduce their oxidative state. This inhibits free radical oxidation of healthy tissue and thereby speeds recovery from acute injury and inhibits the promotion and manifestation of chronic inflammation and inflammation related health disorders. Free electrons from the earth do not interfere with the normal and vital immune responses to tissue damage and/or infection and subsequent tissue repair processes; instead, electrons have a natural protective effect on healthy or undamaged cells and tissues near a site of trauma. In other words, free electrons from the earth augment and focus the body's natural responses to injury.
It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons. The earth's surface is electrically conductive and is maintained at a negative potential by the global atmospheric electrical circuit. The universal conductivity of the earth's surface varies somewhat from place to place, depending upon water and mineral content, vegetation and other factors. However, these factors have relatively little effect on the ability of an earth connection to allow free electrons to flow from the earth to the body or vice versa. Further, any conductive object, coupled with the earth, will conduct earth's mobile charge of free electrons and equalize with it and thereafter maintain the negative potential of the earth. Human and animal bodies are conductive and when they are coupled with the earth they also conduct and become saturated with the earth's mobile electrons. Humans and animals and their respective progenitors lived in conductive (barefoot) contact with the earth during their primary evolutionary period. The body's reactive oxygen species immune response mechanisms also developed during this period when humans and animals lived in a natural grounded state. The inventor has linked loss of natural grounding via the integration of plastic and other insulative materials in our living environments as a contributor to the rapid rise in chronic inflammation and related health disorders. Non-conductive natural and artificial polymer-based soled footwear, floor coverings, bedding and the like now insulate most humans and domestic animals from routine conductive contact with the earth. Clinical case studies (Amalu, William, DC, DABCT, FIACT; Medical Thermography Case Studies) document that when the body is conductively coupled with the earth, acute injuries and chronic inflammation and related health disorders resolve naturally.
The primary defence mechanism of the body is the release of reactive oxygen specie (ROS) free radicals by the immune system. The immune system's ROS response is triggered by injury or disease. White blood cells are constantly circulating within the tissues, essentially poised to respond to the presence of viruses, bacteria or injured cells (Garrood T L Lee L Pitzalis C, 2006; Molecular mechanisms of cell recruitment to inflammatory sites: general and tissue-specific pathways; Rheumatology 45(3):250-260). When an injury occurs, chemical, electrical and other messages are produced that attract white blood cells to the injured or diseased tissue. Chemical signals from the injured tissue can attract other, more specialized cells (Springer T A, 1995; Traffic signals on endothelium for lymphocyte recirculation and leukocyte emigration; Annual Reviews of Physiology 57:827-872). Inflammation increases blood flow to an area, producing redness and warmth.
Part of the inflammatory response involves various immune cells, known as neutrophils, as well as other types of phagocytes, which secrete an abundance of powerful oxidizing agents (free radicals) in a process known as the respiratory burst. The respiratory burst consists of a complex mix of very reactive molecules such as hydrogen peroxide, oxidized halogens, chloramines and oxidizing radicals such as hydroxyl radical, −OH, that aid in the destruction of invading microorganisms. To restore their electrical neutrality, these agents tear electrons from the structures of invading organisms and damaged cells, rapidly destroying them. While these highly reactive substances are manufactured for use at specific sites of infection or tissue damage, they can leak into surrounding tissues, where they inflict various types of undesirable but unavoidable damaging side effects.
While ROS free radicals are obviously vital to the immune response, problems arise when the process does not completely wind down after an injury or site of disease has been cleared of pathogens and cellular debris. Under these conditions, residual ROS free radicals continue to attack and oxidize healthy tissue. This oxidation of healthy tissue then leads to the release of additional chemical signals that re-stimulate the immune system. The immune system responds by delivering more ROS free radicals, establishing a destructive or vicious cycle that can continue indefinitely, even for dozens of years. Some biomedical researchers refer to this as silent inflammation, and it is being recognized as the culprit behind almost every modern chronic disease.
Scientists have known for a long time that the inflammatory response can backfire, causing a host of autoimmune diseases. There about 80 such disorders, the most common being rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, Lupus, and Crohn's disease.
The idea that chronic inflammation could be involved in disease began to gain credence when doctors realized that stomach ulcers were not caused by stress or spicy food, but by inflammation triggered during bacterial infection (Marshall B J Warren J R, 1984; Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration; Lancet 1(8390):1311-1315; also see the 2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded jointly to Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren for their discovery of “the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.”)
It has also long been known that Type 1 diabetes is linked to inflammation—the body's immune system attacks the cells that make insulin. New research is suggesting that Type 2 diabetes, the kind that generally occurs in adulthood, often begins with insulin resistance, in which cells stop responding properly to insulin. Doctors now know that during chronic inflammation, one of the chemicals released is tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which makes cells more resistant to insulin. The TNF connection also helps explain why obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, leads to diabetes. Fat cells used to be thought of as storage depots for energy, as metabolically inactive; now we know that fat cells are little hotbeds of inflammation—excess fat in the belly is a source of inflammation.
Recently evidence has accumulated to show that inflammation is a major factor in far more conditions than the autoimmune diseases, ulcers and diabetes. Some of the most thorough documentation of the role of inflammation in disease has come from research of Dr. P M Ridker and his colleagues at the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, and Division of Cardiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., USA (Ridker P M Hennekens C H, Buring J E, and Rifai N, 2000; C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation in the prediction of cardiovascular disease in women; New England Journal of Medicine, 342(12):836-43). Suspecting that inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events, these researchers measured the levels of markers of inflammation in a prospective controlled study among 28,263 apparently healthy postmenopausal women over a mean follow-up period of three years. They assessed the risk of cardiovascular events associated with a variety of established inflammatory markers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), homocysteine and a variety of lipid (e.g. cholesterol) and lipoprotein measurements. Cardiovascular events were defined as death from coronary heart disease, nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke, or the need for coronary revascularization procedures. Of 12 markers measured, hs-CRP proved to be the strongest predictor of the risk of cardiovascular events. Markers of inflammation, when combined with lipid measurements, were significantly better at predicting risk than models based on lipid levels alone (P<0.001). The levels of hs-CRP and serum amyloid A were significant predictors of risk even in the subgroup of women with normal cholesterol levels. The study concluded that adding the measurement of the inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein, to screening based on lipid levels could improve the identification of persons at risk for cardiovascular events. In 2004, a group in Taipei, Taiwan essentially confirmed these results in a study of non-diabetic patients (Leu H B, Lin C P, Lin W T, Wu T C, and Chen J W, 2004; Risk stratification and prognostic implication of plasma biomarkers in nondiabetic patients with stable coronary artery disease: the role of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; Chest, 126(4):1032-9).
In 2001, Ridker and colleagues studied the risk factors for systemic atherosclerosis in 14,916 initially healthy US male physicians. Again, total cholesterol-HDL-C ratio and CRP were the strongest independent predictors of development of peripheral arterial disease (Ridker P M, Stampfer M J, and Rifai N, 2001; Novel risk factors for systemic atherosclerosis: a comparison of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, homocysteine, lipoprotein(a), and standard cholesterol screening as predictors of peripheral arterial disease; JAMA, 285(19):2481-2485).
In 2001, another group at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. USA reported on high levels of CRP associated with hypopituitarism and growth hormone deficiency. This phenomenon had already been reported in men, and this study extended the findings to women. Hypopituitary women have increased levels of IL-6 and CRP, both of which are inflammatory markers of atherosclerosis (Sesmilo G, Miller K K, Hayden D, and Klibanski A, 2001; Inflammatory cardiovascular risk markers in women with hypopituitarism; J Clin Endocrinol Metab., 86 (12):5774-5781).
In 2002, Ridker and colleagues reported measurements of C-reactive protein and LDL cholesterol in 27,939 apparently healthy American women who were then followed for a mean of eight years for the occurrence of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, coronary revascularization, or death from cardiovascular causes. They found that base-line levels of each marker had a strong linear relation with the incidence of cardiovascular events.
Further study by Ridker and colleagues revealed a correlation between chronic inflammation and sudden cardiac death (Alenghat F J, and Ingber D E, 2002; Mechanotransduction: All Signals Point to Cytoskeleton, Matrix, and Integrins; Science's STKE: http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/OC_sigtrans;2002/119/pe6).
As a result of these studies, and others like them, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in 2003 that doctors include a test for free radicals in their medical check-ups, to determine a patient's risk for heart disease (Pearson T A, Mensah G A, Alexander R W, et al.; 2003; Markers of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease Application to Clinical and Public Health Practice. A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association; Circulation 107:499-511). Subsequently there has been a veritable explosion of research into the association of inflammation and inflammatory markers with a wide range of chronic illnesses. Today, nearly every branch of medicine and surgery includes the study of inflammation (Alenghat F J, supra.)
Inflammation is now thought to be the underlying mechanism of more than 80 chronic illnesses, in addition to the autoimmune disorders mentioned above. These chronic illnesses involve almost every human organ system. They include diseases of the nervous, gastrointestinal, endocrine and respiratory systems as well as the skin and connective tissues. In all of these diseases, the underlying problem is similar—the body's immune system is attacking the very organs it was designed to protect. And inflammation in one organ can be associated with problems in other organs.
For example, in 2004, Knight and colleagues studied the association among kidney function, inflammatory biomarker levels, and coronary events. A total of 244 women with no history of cardiovascular disease that subsequently had incident coronary events were matched to 486 control subjects. High-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP), IL-6, and sTNFR I and II levels were all significantly associated with an increased odds of coronary events in women with reduced kidney function but not in women with normal kidney function. Kidney dysfunction is associated with an increased odds of coronary events, and inflammation, as assessed by higher inflammatory biomarker levels, specifically hs-CRP, IL-6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I and II were significantly associated with coronary events only in women with reduced kidney function (Knight E L, Rimm E B, Pai J K, Rexrode K M, Cannuscio C C, Manson J E, Stampfer M J, and Curhan G C, 2004; Kidney dysfunction, inflammation, and coronary events: a prospective study; J Am Soc Nephrol, 15(7):1897-903).
Subsequent ongoing research has confirmed a role for inflammation in atherosclerosis (Folsom A R, Chambless L E, Ballantyne C M, Coresh J, Heiss G, Wu K K, Boerwinkle E, Mosley T H, Jr, Sorlie P, Diao G, and Sharrett A R, 2006; An assessment of incremental coronary risk prediction using C-reactive protein and other novel risk markers: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study; Arch Intern Med. 166(13):1368-73), diabetes (Ben-Mahmud B M, Chan W H, Abdulahad R M, Datti A, Orlacchio A, Kohner E M, and Chibber R, 2006; Clinical validation of a link between TNF-alpha and the glycosylation enzyme core 2 GlcNAc-T and the relationship of this link to diabetic retinopathy; Diabetologia, 49(9):2185-2191), rheumatoid arthritis (Datta D, Ferrell W R, Sturrock R D, Jadhav S T, and Sattar N, 2007; Inflammatory suppression rapidly attenuates microvascular dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis; Atherosclerosis, 192(2):391-195), multiple sclerosis (Pleasure D, Soulika A, Singh S K, Gallo V, and Bannerman P, 2006; Inflammation in white matter: Clinical and pathophysiological aspects; Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 12(2):141-6), aging (Alvarado C, Alvarez P, Puerto M, Gausseres N, Jimenez L, and De la Fuente M, 2006; Dietary supplementation with antioxidants improves functions and decreases oxidative stress of leukocytes from prematurely aging mice; Nutrition, 22(7-8):767-77), Alzheimer's disease (Di Rosa M, Dell'Ombra N, Zambito A M, Malaguarnera M, Nicoletti F, and Malaguarnera I, 2006; Chitotriosidase and inflammatory mediator levels in Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular dementia; Eur J Neurosci, 23(10):2648-56), osteoporosis (Weitzmann M N, and Pacifici R, 2006; Estrogen deficiency and bone loss: an inflammatory tale; Clin Invest. 116(5):1186-94), asthma (Isidori A M, Giannetta E, Pozza C, Bonifacio V, and Isidori A, 2005; Androgens, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis; J Endocrinol Invest. 28(10 Suppl):73-9), bowel disorders (Zilberman L, Maharshak N, Arbel Y, Rogowski O, Rozenblat M, Shapira I, Berliner S, Arber N, and Dotan I, 2006; Correlated Expression of High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein in Relation to Disease Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Lack of Differences between Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis; Digestion, 73(4):205-209), psoriasis (Hamming a E A, van der Lely A J, Neumann H A, and Thio H B, 2006; Chronic inflammation in psoriasis and obesity: Implications for therapy; Med Hypotheses, 67(4):768-773), meningitis (Keino H, Goto H, Mori H, Iwasaki T, and Usui M, 2006; Association between severity of inflammation in CNS and development of sunset glow fundus in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease; Am J. Opthalmol. 141(6):1140-1142), cystic fibrosis (Clayton A, and Knox A J, 2006; COX-2: a link between airway inflammation and disordered chloride secretion in cystic fibrosis?; Thorax, 61(7):552-553), age related macular degeneration (Seddon J M, George S, Rosner B, and Rifai N, 2005; Progression of age-related macular degeneration: prospective assessment of C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and other cardiovascular biomarkers; Arch Opthalmol, 123(6):774-82), and cancer (Allgayer H, and Kruis W, 2006; From chronic inflammation to metastasing colon cancer—the endless story of the NSAIDs; Z Gastroenterol, 44(7):611-613). The individual references for the previous sentence are drawn from recent literature to show that studies of this kind are currently one of the most active areas in clinical biomedicine.
The details of these phenomena are being worked out. For example, in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, it has been found that whenever the brain is injured or infected, glial cells in the brain secrete cytokines. Normally, this response shuts down when the injury or infection is over. But in chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, these glial cells are activated too high or too long or both. The plaques and tangles in patients' brains attract the attention of glial cells, making them secrete even more cytokines to try to repair this damage, and creating chronic inflammation (Ranaivo H R Craft J M Hu W Guo L Wing L K, Van Eldik L J, and Watterson D M, 2006; Glia as a Therapeutic Target: Selective Suppression of Human Amyloid-beta-Induced Upregulation of Brain Proinflammatory Cytokine Production Attenuates Neurodegeneration; J. Neurosci, 26: 662-670).
The role of inflammation in cancer development is under active investigation. It has been discovered that recurrent inflammation and chronic infections actually contribute to a large number of different types of cancers. Tumors arise from chronic inflammation that acts together with chemical carcinogens. A relationship between cancer and inflammation due to chronic infection has been suspected, but not proven, for many years. In a 1986 study, for example, one researcher compared the inflammatory response to a wound healing response, saying tumors were wounds that do not heal. The recent findings establish a role of myeloid cells in inflammation-associated tumor promotion in addition to their role in tumor progression and invasiveness (Greten F R, Eckmann L, Greten T F, Park J M, Li Z W, Egan L J, Kagnoff M F, and Karin M, 2004; IKKbeta links inflammation and tumorigenesis in a mouse model of colitis-associated cancer; Cell, 118(3):285-96).
Modern research is confirming that inflammatory diseases are virtually epidemic and include some of the most devastating afflictions of our times. Over the evolutionary eons, “we developed these important host defenses to let us get to reproductive age,” said Dr. Peter Libby, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. “Now, the lifespan has almost doubled, and these same [immune responses] contribute to diseases in the end.” Chronic inflammation is so similar in different diseases, Libby said, that when he lectures, he uses many of the same slides, whether he's talking about diseases of the heart, kidneys, joints, lung or other tissues (Foreman J, 2006; Inflammation is Culprit in Many Ailments; On the web at: http://www.myhealthsense.com/F060403_inflamation.html.). In “The Inflammation Cure,” J. Meggs, MD states that, “Inflammation may turn out to be the elusive Holy Grail of medicine—the single phenomenon that holds the key to sickness and health.” (Meggs W J, and Svec C, 2003; The Inflammation Cure: How to Combat the Hidden Factor Behind Heart Disease, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes, & Other Diseases; McGraw-Hill, New York). Everybody knows someone suffering from an inflammation disease. Many physicians, scientists, and patients wonder what has caused inflammation to become so common.
These observations and conclusions further relate significantly to the roles of inflammation and ROS free radicals in chronic disease that have been incorporated into an important new theory that has steadily been gaining support within the medical community. The new theory states that the immune reaction generally known as inflammation may be the underlying cause of a wide range of chronic diseases.
As a consequence of current research on inflammation, Time Magazine Newsweek and Scientific American have recently reported that inflammation is emerging as the “Alpha and Omega of disease” . . . that reducing inflammation is the most important thing a person can do to restore their health and prevent disease (The Secret Killer. Time Magazine; Feb. 23, 2004); (Underwood A, 2005, Quieting a body's defenses; Summer issue); (Martindale D, 2005; Reactive Reasoning: Is an inflammation protein the next cholesterol?; Scientific American.com, March 28 issue).
The familiar manifestations of inflammation should be short lived: swelling, redness, decreased range of motion, heat and pain. However, when the inflammatory response does not shut down properly, inflammation can persist, causing the disruptive manifestations listed in the previous sentence to linger. The resulting discomfort and unnecessary damage to tissues stress the body, prevent proper rest and recovery, and give rise to a host of stress-related disorders (Cohen S, Kessler R C, and Gordon L U, 1995; Strategies for measuring stress in studies of psychiatric and physical disorders. Ch. 1, pp. 3-26 in Measuring Stress; Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK) as well as a long list of other problems. Those other problems, known by a variety of disease names, are being recognized as having a common denominator—chronic inflammation.
These problems are particularly significant for the athlete or performer or other person involved in strenuous exertion or physical exercise. The reason for this is that vigorous exertion can increase oxygen intake by a factor of 10 to 20 times. This in turn results in a condition called hyperoxia (elevated oxygen tension in the tissues). Oxygen is a highly reactive and toxic substance (Halliwell B, and Gutteridge J M C, 1999; Oxygen is a toxic gas—an introduction to oxygen toxicity and reactive oxygen species; Chapter 1 in Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK), and excess oxygen in the tissues leads to increased intracellular production of oxygen-derived free radicals to levels that can exceed the capacity of the antioxidant defenses that normally remove oxidants. When this happens, free radical damage can overwhelm the restorative processes that normally repair cells and cellular components including DNA. When extreme exertion is coupled with injury, as often occurs in highly competitive sports, the result can be an even larger build-up of free radical damage that can severely inhibit and thereby prolong the recovery process.
The inflammation theory of disease has triggered the search for new anti-inflammatory compounds and other methods for neutralizing excess free radicals. Cortisone was the first steroid drug available. In 1935, researchers at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., isolated the hormone cortisone from adrenal glands. In 1948, doctors first used the new drug to treat a 28-year-old woman with severe rheumatoid arthritis. Cortisone remarkably relieved her inflamed, swollen joints after just a few days of use. People who normally couldn't climb out of bed or into a bathtub could do so after using the drug. For a long period of time, cortisone injections, also known as cortisol or corticosteroid injections were widely used for reducing pain associated with inflammation. But these drugs do not assist in the healing process. In fact, cortisone has actually been shown to slow healing. This is a central problem in sports medicine. The injured performer gets immediate pain relief from the treatment and is able to continue his or her activity, but this can lead to more serious problems in the longer term.
Because of problems with its side effects, the use of cortisol and related drugs has been largely supplanted with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compounds (NSAIDS), which are available both by prescription and over-the-counter. As with cortisol, however, experience is showing that prolonged use of NSAIDS can also lead to serious side effects. For example, people who have survived a first heart attack have a higher risk of dying or having a second heart attack if they are taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including the newer class called cox-2 inhibitors (Salpeter S R Gregor P Ormiston T M Whitlock R, Raina P, Thabane L, and Topol E J, 2006; Meta-analysis: cardiovascular events associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Am J. Med. 119(7):552-9; Gislason G H, Jacobsen S, Rasmussen J N, Rasmussen S, Buch P, Friberg J, Schramm T K, Abildstrom S Z, Kober L, Madsen M, and Torp-Pedersen C; 2006; Risk of death or reinfarction associated with the use of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors and nonselective nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs after acute myocardial infarction; Circulation. 113(25):2906-2913).
Many people have turned to vitamins and nutritional supplements thought to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but there is debate about the effectiveness of these substances (Vivekananthan D P, Penn M S, Sapp S K, Hsu A, and Topol E J, 2003; Use of antioxidant vitamins for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of randomised trials; Lancet 361: 2017-23).
In spite of these difficulties, it is obviously important to develop means to reduce free radical concentrations in tissues, and a variety of chemical methods continue to be disclosed to accomplish this. These methods have the disadvantage that once the antioxidant chemical has reduced a free radical by donating an electron to it, the antioxidant itself can become a free radical. The resulting charge imbalance can be passed in a series of reactions from molecule to molecule, causing further oxidative stress and disrupting metabolism. In addition, the antioxidant, once it has served its purpose, must be metabolized and excreted from the organism, posing an additional work load on the biochemical machinery of the body. Moreover, antioxidants and their metabolites can have deleterious side effects.
The many disadvantages to the prior art related to chemical control of the acute and chronic phases of inflammation are overcome in this invention, which provides direct conductive pathways for natural antioxidant electrons from the earth to rapidly reach sites of inflammation in the body.
There are two ways of describing phenomena that cannot be seen directly, such as electricity. The metallic wire in which electrons flow to an appliance, such as a light bulb, can be visualized as being composed of atoms that are more or less rigid and generally held in their positions like the atoms in a crystal. Through this rigid atomic matrix flows an electric current that can be visualized as a flow of particles called electrons that more or less resemble billiard-balls. A closer look reveals them as free electrons, because they are not held in place. None of these conduction electrons belongs to any particular atom in the lattice. In other words, the atoms are not localized, (the physics term is that they are “delocalized”) and are free to move when a force such as a voltage is exerted upon them. The free electrons can be described as a sort of electric fluid, or as a cloud, or as a gas. Physicists have used all of these terms: billiard balls, delocalized electrons, fluid or quantum fluid, cloud, and gas to describe conduction electrons. The classical way of viewing this, the Newtonian model, is a mechanical perspective in which the billiard balls are discrete and localizable entities that have properties like velocity and acceleration and momentum and move when they are pushed.
Quantum physics teaches us that there is another way of looking at the situation. Yes, if you look at the electrons in a certain way, they behave as particles. But if you look at them in a different way, they behave as waves.
In the early years of the 20th Century, physicists were struggling to rationalize the two seemingly different perspectives on the electron: is it a particle or is it a wave? This came to be known as the wave-particle duality Different measurements made on a system reveal it to have either particle-like or wave-like properties. The Danish physicist, Niels Bohr, contributed the important concept of complementarity: the wave and the particle perspectives are not mutually exclusive but are complementary: you cannot really understand electrons or atoms without considering both perspectives.
Complementarity emerged as a basic principle of quantum theory. Bohr, in collaboration with Heisenberg, used complementarity as a philosophical adjunct to the recently developed mathematics of quantum mechanics and in particular to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The uncertainty principle states that a single quantum mechanical entity can either behave as a particle or as wave, but never simultaneously as both; that a stronger manifestation of the particle nature leads to a weaker manifestation of the wave nature and vice versa.
A premise of this invention is that electrons are abundantly available from the surface of the earth and that these electrons can be conducted via the bare feet or other parts of the skin surface to the body surface and into the body to neutralize free radicals in tissues throughout said body.
As with any other phenomenon in nature, there are complementary ways of discussing the process. As with the wave-particle duality, the different ways of viewing the phenomenon are not mutually exclusive, but must be taken together to find the most accurate way of saying how nature is working in this situation.
A major challenge is extending understandings at the quantum or microscopic level to larger scale or macroscopic phenomena. This is an important endeavor in relation to medicine as well as this patent because cells, tissues, organs and organisms function and behave at observable millimeter to centimeter or larger length scales, but the events creating and governing such behaviors occur on the subatomic and atomic scales measured at Angstrom and micron scales. Atoms and molecules described as free radicals are sandwiched between the microscopic and macroscopic levels. The challenge is to apply sophisticated quantum or microscopic understandings to macroscopic behavior. Much confusion arises when trying to stretch subjective understandings of the behavior of the visible or macroscopic world to events that are occurring at invisible electronic or quantum levels and that are therefore more precisely explainable by the physics that has been developed to explain events taking place at those small scales. For example, one observes that when one throws a light switch, electricity flows to the light and it begins to glow. To use this as an analogy of how electrons move through the surface of the earth or within living systems introduces considerable confusion and lack of clarity, as the behaviors of electrons and electric currents are invisible, and neither the earth's crust nor living tissues behave like simple metallic wires. It is a central issue in modern biomedicine to bring to modern medical theory and practice the great discoveries of quantum mechanics, which have been awarded a series of Nobel Prizes over the last century.
The terms, microscopic and macroscopic are not exactly defined. A common perspective is that microscopic refers to objects and processes taking place at roughly atomic dimensions or smaller, while macroscopic refers to systems that are large enough to be visible in the ordinary sense. A more exact definition references the number of particles in a system. A system is macroscopic if conventional statistics can be applied to it with reasonable accuracy. For instance, if it is necessary to keep the statistical error below one percent, a macroscopic system would have to contain more than about ten thousand particles. Any system containing less than this number of particles would be regarded as microscopic, and, hence, conventional statistics could not be applied without unacceptable error. In this case, one would have to shift to a branch of physics known as quantum statistical mechanics.
The explanation of the phenomena involved in this patent begins with the more familiar models of electronic conduction, and then looks more closely, using the microscopic picture that has been developed by quantum physics.
It is accepted that the earth's surface is electrically conductive and is maintained at a negative potential by a global electrical circuit (Williams E R and Heckman S J, 1993; The local diurnal variation of cloud electrification and the global diurnal variation of negative charge on the earth; Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 98:5221-5234; Anisimov S V, Mareev E A, and Bakastov S S, 1999; On the generation and evolution of aeroelectric structures in the surface layer; J Geophys Res 104: (D12) 14359-14367). It is also accepted that there are three main generators in the global electric circuit: the solar wind entering the magnetosphere; the ionospheric wind; and thunderstorms (Volland H, 1984, Atmospheric electrodynamics; In: Physics and Chemistry in Space, edited by Lanzerotte L J, Berlin; Springer-Verlag; Williams E R and Heckman S J, supra).
An estimated 1000 to 2000 thunderstorms are continually active around the globe, emitting thousands of lightening strikes per minute. This creates a constant current of thousands of amperes transferring positive charge to the upper atmosphere and negative charge to the surface of the earth. The earth's surface is therefore an abundant source of free electrons (Geophysics Study Committee, 1986, The Earth's electrical environment; Technical Report. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press).
In addition to the above mentioned solar and atmospheric sources of electrons, the earth's molten core may participate because of its metallic iron-nickel content that is maintained at high pressure and temperature, conditions known to produce free electrons in molten metals.
Those familiar with the arts in the fields of electrophysiology and biomedical instrumentation will be aware that multiple conductive pathways exist between internal organs and the body skin surface, and vice versa. This is the basis for familiar clinical diagnostic tools such as the electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, and electromyogram, for example. In these examples, electrical activities produced by the activities of the heart, neurons in the brain, and muscles, respectively, follow conductive pathways to the skin surface where they can be conductively coupled via electrode patches and leads to appropriate measuring instruments. The conventional arrangement of electrodes for recording the standard electrocardiogram involves placing electrodes on the two wrists and left ankle, although many other arrangements have been used for specific purposes. That these conductive pathways work in reverse, from the skin surface to the organs within the body, is likewise well known. Electrical stimulation of the skin to affect the heart underlies cardiac pacing and defibrillation, for example. Likewise, electrical stimulation of the brain via electrodes on the scalp, in a method known as DC brain polarization, is being researched for effects on cognition and other aspects of brain function. Finally, it has been known since 1867 that electrical stimulation at particular points on the skin surface can activate particular muscles. These discoveries and related methods, such as electroacupuncture, document the presence of conductive pathways from the skin surface to the tissues and organs throughout the body.
A deeper and more holistic understanding of the conduction of free electrons in the earth and in the human body arises from consideration of the physics of electrons and electron conduction in various forms of matter. The study of electrons and electron conduction belongs to the largest area of contemporary physics known as condensed matter physics (formerly referred to as solid state physics, which is now considered to be one branch of condensed matter physics).
The free electron model contrasts with the tight-binding model, which treats the properties of the electrons that are tightly bound or localized in the individual atomic cores or nuclei of the matter in which they are found. A conductive material such as a metal can have both free or mobile electrons and tightly bound or immobile electrons. A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity that is intermediate between that of an insulator and a conductor. More importantly, a semiconductors' conductivity may be modified by introducing impurities in a process known as doping. The ability to control conductivity in small and well-defined regions of semiconductor material has led to the development of a broad array of miniaturized electronic devices that have become the basis for nearly all modern electronics. This is mentioned because most if not all biomolecules have semiconductor properties.
An electrical conductor is defined as a material containing movable charges of electricity; electricity is a general term for a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge; electric charge is defined as a fundamental property of some subatomic particles which determines their electromagnetic interactions.
Physicists refer to free electrons as being present as a “cloud” or “gas” composed of mobile electrons in a material such as a crystal or a metal. There are two basic models for the conduction of free electrons, the Drude model of electrical conduction, and the Drude-Sommerfeld model. Both of these models neglect Coulombic or electrostatic electron-electron interactions and assume limited interactions between the free electrons and the more localized electrons and protons in the solid matrix in which they exist.
The Drude model is based on classical or Newtonian physics and kinetic theory. The kinetic approach assumes that a material contains both immobile positive ions (protons) and mobile electrons that behave more or less as a cloud or electron gas. The Drude model was improved in 1933 by Arnold Sommerfeld and Hans Bethe, leading to the Drude-Sommerfeld-Model that takes into account quantum effects. In particular, in 1927 Somerfield and Bethe applied a branch of quantum physics known as statistical mechanics, or Fermi-Dirac statistics developed by Enrico Fermi and Paul Dirac. This is a particular case of particle statistics that determines the distribution of large numbers of electrons in the various energy levels that are available in atoms. Again, electron-electron interactions do not have to be considered, except for the Pauli Exclusion Principle, which states that no two electrons can occupy the same quantum state at the same time. Two electrons can occupy the same atomic or molecular orbital if they have opposite spin, a concept that arises in quantum mechanics. The significance for free radicals is that free radicals are defined as having one or more atomic or molecular orbitals with an unpaired electron.
These considerations lead to a more detailed physical explanation of how free electrons may be conducted in the surface layers of the earth and in the tissues of the human body, as well as how these electrons interact with free radicals in living tissues. Physical descriptions provide the most reliable and accurate picture relevant to this situation. The reason for this is that the chemical perspective focuses on atoms and molecules interacting with one another, dominated by atom-atom, atom-molecule or molecule-molecule collisions. The perspectives of physics, quantum physics, quantum chemistry and biophysics enable study of the forces and motions involved in chemical reactions at much smaller and more fundamental scales, the subatomic or electronic levels. Since free radicals are usually defined as molecules that have an unpaired electron, it is necessary to focus at the quantum electronic scale. As mentioned above, the very term, unpaired electron, relates to a phenomenon known as spin, a distinctly quantum phenomenon that is not referenced in classical physics.
Condensed matter physics recognizes that many of the concepts and techniques developed for studying fluid systems also apply to solids. For instance, the conduction electrons in an electrical conductor can form a type of “quantum fluid” with some properties that are similar to those of conventional fluids. Obviously, the existence of quantum fluids implies that the laws of quantum mechanics must be taken into consideration, expanding our understanding of what is usually referred to as electronic conduction.
In the past, it was thought that the term “quantum fluid” applied only to clusters of atoms or subatomic particles that condense under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. Much research has been done to demonstrate the existence of unusual properties such as superconduction, superfluidity and quantum coherence that take place at low temperatures or with other extreme conditions.
Over the years it has been discovered that the extraordinary subatomic properties that were first demonstrated at low temperatures and other special conditions can also be exhibited at room temperature or at body temperature. Driving research in this field is the need to reduce the size and increase the efficiency of electronic technologies. Engineers are constantly looking for applications that take advantages of the extraordinary quantum properties of materials so they can develop efficient circuits composed of atoms or molecules.
There are two general types of condensation. A fermionic condensate is a superfluid phase formed by fermionic particles (electrons, protons or neutrons) at low temperatures. The earliest recognized fermionic condensate described the state of electrons in a superconductor. A system of identical fermions is called a Fermi gas or a free electron gas. If the temperature is low enough, the Fermi gas becomes “degenerate,” a state that provides a good model of the conduction electrons in a metal, even at room temperature. Hence physicists describe the electron clouds in metals and semiconductors in relation to Fermi gases. This will be important below in the discussion of the semiconductor nature of both the tissues in the human body and the earth's crust.
Quantum physics recognizes two types of particles in nature, fermions and bosons. Fermions have half-integerspin, or spin ½, whereas bosons have integer spin. Here the term, spin, should not be conceptualized as an actual rotation about an axis, as spin is usually viewed in the macroscopic world. Instead, spin is a phenomenon that arises in quantum statistics and is a major distinction between bosons and fermions. Atoms and photons are composed of bosons and have integer spin, and therefore obey Bose-Einstein Statistics. This means that groups of bosons are capable of being organized into the same quantum state to produce coherence, as in a laser or maser. Assemblies of particles, such as atoms and molecules, can also behave as bosons or fermions. Depending on the number of electrons, protons and neutrons, an atom can have integer or half-integer total spin and, therefore, be a boson or fermion, respectively. Electrons are the best known fermions, have half-integer spin, and obey Fermi-Dirac statistics, whose consequence is the Pauli Exclusion Principle—no two fermions can occupy the same quantum mechanical state at the same time. The Pauli Exclusion Principle accounts for important features of free radicals and their reactions with electrons, to be discussed below.
Under appropriate conditions, fermions such as electrons and bosons such as atoms can be condensed into unusual states of matter known as the fermionic condensate or the Bose-Einstein condensate, respectively.
Recent research has blurred the distinction between the fermionic and Bose-Einstein condensates. For example, a fermionic condensate of bosonic atoms was created in 2004, and a number of research groups have shown that a Bose-Einstein condensate can fermionize, i.e. develop properties related to electrons. These include excitons, which are electron-hole pairs and anyons, which are particles with statistics intermediate between Fermi and Bose statistics in two-dimensional space.
One of the leading theorists in the field of superconduction, Herbert Fröhlich, demonstrated that the Bose-Einstein condensation can take place in living tissues at body temperatures and pressures because of the high degree of order or crystallinity in certain cellular and tissue components. Again, it had been thought that Bose-Einstein condensation could only take place at extremely low temperatures, as was demonstrated by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman in 1995 at the University of Colorado at Boulder NIST-JILA lab, using a gas of rubidium atoms cooled to 170 nanokelvin (nK). Under such conditions, a large fraction of the atoms collapsed into the lowest quantum state, at which point quantum effects become apparent on a macroscopic scale (Cornell E A, Weiman, C E, 2001; Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute gas; the first 70 years and some recent experiments; Nobel Lecture, December 8, From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 2007, Edited by Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 2002).
In essence, Fröhlich concluded that giant dipolar molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids in cellular membranes, which can have enormous electrical fields of some 107 V/m across them, should vibrate intensely and coherently at characteristic frequencies and create a physical situation analogous to a Bose-Einstein condensation at body temperature. These vibrations can build up into collective modes of both electromechanical oscillations (phonons, or sound waves) and electromagnetic radiations (photons) that extend over macroscopic distances within the organism and perhaps also outside the organism. These electromechanical oscillators are coupled together to form an extended Fröhlich system.
Fröhlich began his work on biological coherence with a theoretical calculation that predicted a phenomenon. Fröhlich oscillations have now been repeatedly confirmed by experiment. A number of authors have criticized Fröhlich's application of coherence and Bose-Einstein condensation in biology, but the objections have been dealt with in other works.
The discovery that quantum effects become apparent on a macroscopic scale at body temperature in biological systems is extremely important as it allows theory and research on the movement of free electrons in cloud- or gas-like form through the tissues of the body. The phenomenon has been described as follows: the crucial distinguishing feature of Bose-Einstein condensates is that the many parts that go to make up an ordered system not only behave as a whole, they become whole: their identities merge or overlap in such a way that they lose their individuality entirely. This concept was first articulated by Albert Szent-Györgyi at the Korányi Memorial Lecture given in Budapest on Mar. 21, 1941, when he described the semiconductor nature of proteins: “If a great number of atoms is arranged with regularity in close proximity, as for instance, in a crystal lattice, the terms of the single valency electrons may fuse into common bands. The electrons in this band cease to belong to one or two atoms only, and belong to the whole system.” And, “A greater number of molecules may join to form such energy continua, along which energy, viz., excited electrons, may travel a certain distance.” (Szent-Györgyi, A., 1941, Towards a new biochemistry?, Science 93:609; Szent-Györgyi, A., 1941, The study of energy levels in biochemistry, Nature 148(3745):157-159). The concept of semiconduction in proteins encountered much resistance, but has now been accepted and has become a foundation of the new field of molecular nanoelectronics.
Because of barriers to communication between scientists working in different disciplines, the biological and biomedical significance of the discoveries of Bose, Einstein, Szent-Györgyi, Fröhlich and others is not as well appreciated as it might be. In terms of biology, the significance is that much of the living organism is composed of highly ordered molecular arrays or crystalline-like materials (connective tissues, cell membranes, muscles, rods and cones, microtubules in cilia, and so on), all of which can be described as being coupled oscillators and all of which will support the ordered conduction of electron clouds or gasses as described by Fröhlich and others.
The surface of the earth is likewise composed of materials that conduct electricity. The earth's surface is dominated by the oceans which are composed of water and dissolved minerals which render the oceans highly conductive. The solid crust can be classified either as ‘continental’ or ‘oceanic’. Continental crust is on average older, more silica-rich and thicker than oceanic crust, but is also more variable in composition. Oceanic crust underlies most of the two-thirds of the Earth's surface. It has a remarkably uniform composition (mostly 49%±2% SiO2) and thickness (mostly 7±1 km). The continental crust is composed mainly of basalt and granite. Basalt is a common gray to black volcanic or igneous rock. Volcanic rocks are usually fine-grained or aphanitic to glassy in texture. Aphantic (from the Greek αφανηζ, invisible) refers to certain typically dark-colored igneous rocks which are so fine-grained that their component mineral crystals are not detected by the unaided eye. They often contain clasts or fragments of other rocks and phenocrysts. A phenocryst is a relatively large and usually conspicuous crystal distinctly larger than the grains of the rock matrix. The word granite comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a crystalline rock.
The dominant mineral in the earth's crust, SiO2, (quartz), is a crystalline semiconductor and therefore capable of sustaining the movement of electrons much like the semiconductor materials that characterize the living state.
Not surprisingly, the conduction of electricity in the surface layers of the earth is well established (See Lanzerotti L J, and Gregon G P, 1986, Telluric Currents: The Natural Environment and Interactions with Man-Made Systems; Chapter 16 in Studies in Geophysics. The Earth's Electrical Environment, Geophysics Study Committee, Geophysics Research Forum, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, National Research Council. Published by the National Academies Press, Washington D.C.).
Theory and measurement therefore show that free electrons migrate through the conductive surface layers of the earth as well as through the conductive tissues of the human body, provided the two systems, earth and body, are in conductive contact with each other.
Oxidation and reduction and reduction potential are frequently used but confusing terms in free-radical chemistry. There are serious limitations to the use of oxidation/reduction concepts when looking at free electron interactions with free radicals in the human body. First, the chemical species in living systems are not isolated as they are when their reduction potentials are measured in a standardized system. Reaction conditions make a big difference. Moreover, the standardized reduction potentials are always measured at 25° C. and corrected to pH=7.0, but the actual pH and temperature in living tissues can be quite different from these values. The Nernst equation can be used to correct for the values of concentration and temperature. The resulting “effective” reduction potential can be used to predict which reactions are feasible, but this does not mean that those reactions will actually occur under the conditions present in a particular tissue (for a discussion of oxidation-reduction potentials as applied to free-radical chemistry, and the limitations of this approach, see Halliwell B, and Gutteridge J M C, 1999, Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine; Chapter 2, The chemistry of free radicals and related “reactive species.” Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, p. 36-104). Moreover, free radical reactions can be exceedingly fast, making it difficult to follow reaction rates based on changes in the concentrations of reactants and products.
A modern method for the direct study of free radical reactions is femtosecond spectroscopy, which makes it possible to observe what actually happens to a reacting molecule as it passes through its so-called transition state during which bonds are broken and formed. The transition state is as fast as the electrons and atoms in the molecule move—about 1000 m/second—about as fast as a rifle bullet. The times involved typically tens of femtoseconds (1 fs=10−15 seconds). Ahmed Zewail developed a method for observing the transition state, giving birth to a new scientific field called femtochemistry. What is essentially the fastest camera in the world is used to film the molecules during a reaction and get a sharp picture of the transition states. The “camera” is a pulsed laser. The reaction is initiated by a strong laser flash and is then studied by a series of subsequent flashes to follow the events. The result is a slow motion image of how bonds are stretched and broken. Ahmed Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize for showing the decisive moments in the life of a molecule—the breaking and formation of chemical bonds (Zewail A, 1999, Nobel Lecture: Femtochemistry: Atomic-Scale Dynamics of the Chemical Bond Using Ultrafast Lasers; From Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 7996-2000, Editor Ingmar Grenthe, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 2003).
Thus, there are complementary ways of looking at the phenomena described in this patent. What emerges from current experimentation and theory in the fields of condensed matter physics and quantum mechanics is a holistic perspective that places the free radical molecule in the inflamed tissue of a person who is in conductive contact with the earth at the end of a continuum encompassing the sun, the atmosphere, the earth's oceans and crust and the tissues of the body. Indications are that this physical arrangement allows the human body to be permeated with a cloud or gas or quantum fluid composed of electrons that are capable of neutralizing free radicals and thereby preventing or reducing inflammation and its pathological consequences. The electrons are separated enough so that they do not interact with each other, and they are relatively disconnected from the atomic cores of the matrix in which they move. The electrons do not really travel, as in a wire. They are better described as waves than as particles. They are in a quantum state such that they can form the electron pairs that complete the occupancy of atomic or molecular orbitals that would otherwise maintain the free radical in its highly reactive and potentially harmful state.
It is well established that negative charges (free electrons) are instantly attracted to positive charges (free radicals). (Coulomb's law: The electric force acting on a point charge as a result of the presence of a second point charge ((one positive and one negative)) attract one to the other). (Chemists use the term “electrophile” ((literally electron-lover)) to describe a reagent that attracts electrons. Most electrophiles are positively charged). Connecting the body to the earth automatically enables the conductive tissues of the body to become charged with earth's free electrons. When the body is charged with earth's mobile free electrons, excess or residual immune response free radicals have a readily available source of free electrons to couple with and reduce their oxidative state. This eliminates the need for residual immune system produced free radicals to oxidize healthy tissue to obtain their missing electrons. By readily reducing free radicals with earth's free electrons, oxidation of healthy tissue is naturally inhibited, which helps the immune response ROS free radicals to wind down properly.
To verify the effects of speeding recovery from acute trauma and preventing or reducing chronic inflammation in the body with application of earth's free electrons to the body, several research studies and a host of clinical case studies were performed. A series of clinical case studies (Amalu, supra) well document the therapeutic effectiveness of speeding recovery from acute trauma and preventing or reducing chronic inflammation and related health disorders by conductively coupling the body with the earth. The rapid healing of acute injuries and prevention or reduction of chronic inflammation that is consistently evidenced in the case studies support the concept that nature, throughout evolutionary time, relied upon earth's mobile free electrons as a primal source of antioxidants to prevent oxidation of healthy tissue. Further, in considering that the immune system's oxidative response mechanisms developed when humans and animals lived in conductive contact with the earth, the clinical case studies (Amalu, supra) strongly support that the modern practice of wearing synthetic soled shoes and living in environments that insulate the body from the earth is the primary contributor to the current epidemic of chronic inflammation and related health disorders (autoimmune diseases).
Current biomedical research (referenced above) confirms that chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases are virtually epidemic in modern times. They include: high blood pressure, cardiovascular/heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular diseases, respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, liver, gall bladder and kidney dysfunction, diseases of the colon, arthritis, chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, hormone imbalances, thyroid dysfunction, Alzheimer's, premature senility/dementia, as well as the continuing rise in cancer.
When the human body is conductively coupled with the earth by means of the present invention, the body naturally conducts and becomes charged with earth's mobile free electrons, i.e. it equalizes with and maintains the natural electrical potential of the earth. In this state earth's mobile free electrons are available throughout the body to readily reduce excess free radicals and thereby prevent oxidation of healthy tissue. Current biomedical research (referenced above) confirms that free radical oxidation of healthy tissue is the underlying cause of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease. Clinical case studies (Amalu, supra) show that restoring the earth's natural surface charge of free electrons to the body consistently speeds recovery from acute trauma and prevents or reduces chronic inflammation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method to conduct and apply the earth's mobile surface charge of free electrons to the bodies of humans and animals to treat acute injuries or to help reduce and prevent chronic inflammation and to treat inflammation-related autoimmune diseases. Such methods should be capable of being used while sleeping, during prolonged periods of sitting, standing and during other activities when the body is residing in an environment that would otherwise insulate the body from conductive contact with the earth. The present invention fulfills this need.